(Older white man with a wide brim hat standing in a museum in front of a tan Egyptian statue. He’s got a gray sport coat and blue button down collared shirt).

“Le Grand Musée de Giza” opening of the world’s largest museum last October 16th 

by Federico Wardal 

——-

The cities of NYC and SF are intimately linked to major events on Egyptian antiquities. News such as the 2023 exhibition on Pharaoh Ramses at the SF De Young Museum curated by the celebrity of the most important exhibitions on ancient civilizations Hon. Renée Dreyfus, an exhibition desired by the legendary archaeologist Prof. Zahi Hawass, have been published in this magazine. 

In 1995 I was the protagonist of the theatrical show : “Garibaldi and Anita: peacemakers without frontiers” at the Cairo Opera House for the Cairo International Festival of Experimental Theatre and after the show I went to visit the famous set designer architect Hussein El-Ezabi in his villa at the pyramids where I met the Arab Global Star Mohammed Sobhi and we talked about the project of Le Grand Musée de Giza.

On 5 January 2002, then-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak laid the foundation stone of the Grand Egyptian Museum.

In 2006, the 3,200 years old Statue of Ramesses II was relocated from Ramses Square in Cairo to the Grand Egyptian Museum site, near that Giza Plateau. It was moved to the atrium of the museum in January 2018 .

In late August 2008, the design team submitted over 5,000 drawings to the Egyptian Ministry of Culture. Following this, the construction tende was announced in October 2008. Earthmoving has begun to excavate the site for the building. Tendering was due in September 2009, with an estimated completion date of 2013.[15]

On 11 January 2012, a joint venture between Egypt’s Orascom Construction (OC) belongs to Sawiris brothers and the Belgian BESIX was awarded the contract for phase three of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM)

In January 2018, Besix and Orascom brought in and installed an 82-ton, 3,200-year-old statue of Ramses II in the Grand Egyptian Museum. It was the first artefact to be installed in the Museum, during construction, due to its size.

On 29 April 2018, a fire broke out near the entrance of the GEM but artifacts were not damaged and the cause of the fire was unknown.

In May 2018, the last of King Tutankhamun‘s chariots was moved to GEM.

In November 2018, the estimate for a full opening was pushed back to last quarter of 2020, according to Tarek Tawfik, GEM’s director.[20] In April 2020, the planned opening of the museum was pushed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In August 2020, two colossal statues discovered in the sunken city of Thonis-Heracleion by the IEASM were set up in the entrance hall of the GEM.

As of May 2024, the museum is scheduled to open “later this year” and Gihan Zaki was appointed head of the Grand Egyptian Museum.

As of 16 October, 2024 the Grand Hall, Grand Staircase, commercial area, 12 public galleries and the exterior gardens are open for tours, while the Tutankhamun gallery and Solar Boat Museum are not yet open to the public.

Soon the entire huge museum will be open to the public. 

Meanwhile, new archaeological discoveries are proceeding intensely under the care of Prof. Zahi Hawass, especially in the Luxor area that will contribute to the GEM while new large exhibitions on the Egypt of the Pharaohs are scheduled in the USA in 2025 with conferences by Prof. Zahi Hawass.

I thank you              

                Father!

(My father is devoted to Rahmiddin!)

Father, your words are bright and kind, 

Your words of wisdom are mysterious and magical,

Your teacher is different-minded,

Thank you, father!

We learned love from you,

We learned knowledge and enlightenment from you.

We learned manners and consequences from you.

Thank you, Father!

He watched us walk the streets,

He corrected our mistake without delay,

The reason is that he gave his gifts,

Thank you, Father!

Rahmiddinova Mushtariy Ravshan’s daughter was born on March 1, 2011 in Gulistan district of Syrdarya region. Now she is a student of the 8th grade. Mushtariy is interested in reading poetry, reading books and drawing. She appeared on television in kindergarten at the age of 3 and is still appearing on television. Participated in the Bilimdon competition. She took the 2nd place in English in the 2nd grade. Participates in many contests and projects. In the future, she will become a dentist. She is preparing for admission. Her dream is to make everyone proud of Mushtariy. She also participated in many anthologies and webinars.

In an Affair, the Brush Barely Touches the Canvas

At dawn,

before breakfast,

before the indulgence, the words, and the aftermath

I needed the truth.

That slippery serpent that chokes and discards.

You smiled thinly,

“Perceive what you will,” you said, “I need to shower.”

He was wealthy, and I was a pair of dark glasses you wore occasionally.

He purchased, and I shopped.

A light burns, and a light’s shadow blends.

Color, texture, and shape describe a work of art.

In a relationship,

the foreground is devoured, and the background is lyrical.

In an affair,

the brush barely touches the canvas, and other narratives become possibilities.

Naked and obedient,

you are borrowed like fine art exhibited from gallery to gallery.

Gran Sasso, Italy, became a fist to the chest

as the clouds turned dark,

the heavy rains started, while your scent lingered

on the sheets and in my thoughts.

Fine glass

is never used to secure.

It is to be admired, handled, and then put away.

If dropped, by chance or purpose,

a momentary visual experience

is created

before the chards are swept into a heap

and then discarded.

You were cold and self-absorbed

when you hurried out the door.

I leaned back on the bedroom chair

tapped the tips of my fingers together

and eventually closed my eyes.

Excuses were a credit I believed I deserved.

Yet I understood

how optimism

usually morphs into a sad smile.

You are an illusionist

and your carefully crafted illusion

makes the truth

an uncertainty that chimes

silently and deadly.

Your note

had no inhibitions.

It stood there propped against an empty wine glass.

Your handwriting was graceful, stylish, and to the point.

“Forever was never on my mind.”

Philip received his Master of Arts in Psychology from Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada. He has published five poetry books, three novels and two plays. He has a column in the quarterly magazine Per Niente. He enjoys all things artistic.

Perfect Love

You are wrong and I’m wrong too.

We fit together like shards of glue.

We squelch, we scrape, we stumble round

and clonk together. That’s our sound.

In the Middle

Lord, in the middle of all

this world of woes

I look up into your sky

peace in the blue

even when the clouds thunder

and pour their rain

you are above

watching over us

seeing the unseen

feeling the unfeeling

healing the suffering

whispering to all the hard hearts

and the nights come

covering us with sleep

and dreams of your peace

sunrise opening our eyes

and your freeing light.

Preface

underneath the profoundly asleep earth,

among illusory constructions of reality

in the heavy rhythm that knocks at the gate of history

time dissipates darkness, the dawn breaks

fragments of memories unite into one image

portraying the people from thousands of years ago

they had never seen before

the soul rising from the ruins

lightning stimulates the sleep hormone

the words sprout from the roots of the trees

the branches raise their eyes to the sky

the tears from above soothe the dry throat

insomnia brings about disorder

sleepwalk spreads like clouds

on the edge, people seek faith,

the swan isolates, the sea roars.

the wheel of time loses direction

fierce winds swirl the calm waves

the dark flow of purple rain floods the newly sprouted flowers

the dike is no longer on the shore

the sea is no longer in the sea

the pleasures of life create wings of light

lush branches and leaves grow from rotten logs

postmodernism indicates a bright period

the white sheet inscribed with yellow and red symbols

like barren lands sprinkled with saliva and salt

millennial expressions permeate ink and paper

the profound words awake from the drawers on the walls

the eyes in the tombs frightfully stare

the trembling hand reaches into the library in the afternoon sun

dusk and dawn go on

Profound words asleep

(Unsolved)

the sea removes its veil

mountain ridges create new settlements

humanity is torn apart

the celestial vault is unclear

creation and destruction became fine arts

when humans evolved, the Ice Age was forgotten

people’s desires are infinitely greater

faith and contradiction are overlapping

only the poet’s soul sees the tree flowers

my nostrils perceive the smell of old books.

morning glow covered by clouds and fog

alien guests appear in the magical sky

brains exterminating amongst each other

religion is not a true spiritual devotion

monks’ love affairs give birth to children

Buddhist nuns give birth in misery

nature undergoes a destruction process

discoveries accelerate people’s panic

but you keep your faith that death

brings rebirth,

a bird looking for the forest

June 23, 2017

Profound words asleep

Reading

the scent of ink passes from hand to heart

burning desire stimulates the senses

veins beat inside the rolled sleeves

the solution to this state is like a dream wind that smacks the flesh

I hope that fireflies jump into written words

meditating, we travel through the cosmos

an ark heading to infinity

when the morning light removes the veil

the world shows its true face

hidden dreams pass through the time tunnel

directed to the hut of steel and cement

they run back and forth through the underground

at the spring in the forest, the bone whistle whispers

my dream lifts the billows

Utopia

Foreword: If people continue to destroy the environment,

what will happen to the Earth?

the world evolves continuously, even before our era

the monkey thinks of the empty forest

the sky protests crying

his tears roll down to the ground

making the savages appear

the sun like a magic mirror,

mercury – destructive ultraviolet rays

the constellation is no longer fascinating

it sinks into the sea

the air blooms, the waters rise muttering,

ants dance inside the shells

animals discuss livelihoods

the dinosaur and the elephant sweat working in agriculture

the lion and the tiger are eager to get married and have offspring

the leaves of the trees are like the palms of the sky

butterflies and dragonflies cannot be seen under the sun

thick smoke floats above the clouds

the mountain range is like an infinite fence

we were born in the air

hands raised to the olive tree, interpret the verses of the oracle

the beast is banished to slavery

trees abound in fruits

birds and insects take care of the harvest

stones discuss how to rewrite history

the fish are guarding the corrupt officials

rain and dew create eternal life

the Earth gave life to the Earth.

Rivers

desire – a river

springing from the blood of our ancestors

civilized and primitive behaviors interchange

war, murder, and redemption

genetic mutation

in the Neolithic,

stone and fire offered wisdom

most people lived like puppets

nobody knows if there was a god

men and women crossed the rivers of the high mountains

driven by the flames of desire

their union gave birth to the seas and the land.

March 16, 2017

Anna Keiko (original name: Wang Xianglian) is an internationally renowned poet, writer, editor and painter living in Shanghai. Graduated from East China University of Political Science and Law. The founder, President and editor-in-chief of ACC Shanghai Huifen International Literary Association, the World Poetry promoter, the International Peace Ambassador Outstanding Contribution Award winner. Chinese young literary director. Her poems have been translated into more than 30 languages and published more than 2,000 in more than 500 newspapers and magazines in more than 50 countries. Published 11 books of poetry, (waiting for the bus) poems by the famous composer Tu Bahai into songs. She has been invited to participate in international poetry festivals in more than a dozen countries, Yale University invited her to participate in the International Poetry Symposium for three consecutive years, and Salem University invited her as an international poet’s personal poetry seminar program. She has won 33 International poetry prizes and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2020.

Whispers of Exile and War

In exile, the blue sky drifts on, like a sea breeze,

While sunrises and sunsets blur, making wishes hard to keep.

Looking out the window, walking empty streets,

The stars whisper to the moon, praying for a kiss that lingers deep.

As if the eyes rejoice, done weeping over corpses,

As if the ears have learned to hear the stillness of the universe.

But why are mouths forced to smile, to speak as if nothing happened,

While life retreats from death’s presence, leaving us to die in pain?

Lebanon, you are the chandelier that lights our yesterdays and tomorrows.

Palestine, you are the olive branch, the warm nest of greater times.

Iraq, you are the forgiving homeland, the loving parent of all people.

Syria, you are the gate that never closes, forever offering protection.

If you count the roses in your corners, that’s the number of civilians

Who died in war. Your footsteps still carry the blood of innocent children,

Slaughtered, unburied, while you unleashed your human rights,

Barking and devouring our children who never learned to breathe free.